Stronghold Digital Mining, a Pennsylvanian crypto-mining company, is seeking approval to use Tire Derived Fuel (TDF) for crypto mining at its Panther Creek plant. An unconventional source of energy, TDF involves shredded tires and has drew attention towards the potential implications of the crypto mining industry on our environment.
With the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) green signal to use TDF at other industrial facilities in the state, Stronghold appeared confident while filing their application. The company pointed out that it is not a novel practice, as TDF has been legal in the U.S. since 1991 and is already being used at four plants in Pennsylvania.
Nevertheless, despite the credit given by Stronghold to the EPA’s approval, local environmental advocates are standing firm on their dissent. It seems that the approval for the use of alternative energy sources is painting a rather grey area, since it could blur the pathway towards a clean, sustainable environment. Advocates argue that since the Panther Creek plant uses the electricity it produces for cryptocurrency mining, rather than the grid, it should be subjected to increased air pollution monitoring requirements.
Ironically, when Stronghold took over the Panther Creek plant, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions catapulted, as reported by Earthjustice attorney Charles McPhedran. Using coal to mine crypto wasn’t shied away from by the company, this despite the environmental degradation caused by the massive amounts of waste coal in Pennsylvania. Notably, Stronghold did perform admirably in Q2 2023, mining 626 Bitcoins, a significant increase from Q4 2022.
Considering the state’s abundant waste coal, switching to TDF might seem like a sustainable move on the surface. But one has to wonder if it’s more of a transition from one problematic source to another, instead of a true beholding to sustainable practices.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, HashKey became the first licensed retail cryptocurrency exchange, adding to the global shift towards regulation of the crypto space. This seems to provide a robust regulated environment for crypto exchanges, contrary to the relatively gray space in the US when it comes to alternative energy usage for crypto mining.
Indeed from Pennsylvania to Hong Kong, these developments underline both the potential and pitfalls of the evolving crypto world. The question then becomes, not of whether cryptos would be moving towards a sustainable future, but how to resolve the repurcussions they carry along. The answer, sadly, remains shrouded in the depths of these uncertainties.
Source: Cointelegraph
